{{other uses}} {{for|the Arrested Development song based on Everyday People|People Everyday}} {{More citations needed|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox song | name = Everyday People | cover = Epic-sly-everyday-people.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Sly and the Family Stone | album = Stand! | B-side = Sing a Simple Song | released = November 1968 | recorded = 1968 | studio = | venue = | genre = {{flatlist| * Rock<ref name= "Marsh 1989">{{cite book|first=Dave|last=Marsh|title=The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5t5DYDniSHEC|date=1989|publisher=Plume|isbn=0-452-26305-0|page=18}}</ref> * pop<ref>{{cite web|last= Pitchfork Staff |title= The 200 Best Songs of the 1960s |website= Pitchfork |date= August 18, 2006 |url= https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/6405-the-200-greatest-songs-of-the-1960s/|quote= Sly smoothed out his incendiary funk into a couple minutes of gently buoyant pop...|access-date= October 12, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/mar/16/sly-stones-greatest-songs-ranked|title=Sly Stone's greatest songs – ranked!|first=Alexis|last=Petridis|date=March 16, 2023|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=June 30, 2025|quote=Everyday People distils the band’s initial essence – multiple vocals, propulsive bass, lyrics preaching tolerance in a fractured US – into two minutes and 22 seconds of perfect pop.}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/sly-and-the-family-stone-20-essential-songs-79782/everyday-people-1969-37485/|title=Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs|first=Oliver|last=Wang|date=June 9, 2025|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=June 30, 2025|quote='Everyday People,' was an undeniably feel-good pop hit...}}</ref> * psychedelic soul<ref name= "Billboard Pop 500">{{cite magazine|last= Billboard Staff|title= The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List|magazine= Billboard |url= https://www.billboard.com/lists/best-pop-songs-all-time-hits/|date= October 19, 2023|access-date= February 11, 2024|quote= Sly and the Family Stone’s euphoric slice of psychedelic soul, presented by its co-ed, biracial lineup...}}</ref> }} | length = 2:22 | label = Epic<br> <small>5-10407</small> | writer = Sly Stone | producer = Sly Stone | prev_title = Life | prev_title2 = M'Lady | prev_year = 1968 | title = | title2 = Sing a Simple Song | next_title = Stand! | next_title2 = I Want to Take You Higher | next_year = 1969 | misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|YUUhDoCx8zc|"Everyday People"}}}} {{Audio sample | type = single | file = Slyfam-everydaypeep-1969.ogg | description = "Everyday People" }} }} "'''Everyday People'''" is a 1968 song composed by Sly Stone and first recorded by his band, Sly and the Family Stone. It was the first single by the band to go to number one on the Soul singles chart and the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart.<ref>{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=54}}</ref> It held that position on the Hot 100 for four weeks, from February 9 to March 8, 1969, and is remembered as one of the most popular songs of the 1960s. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the No. 5 song of 1969.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=27 December 1969 |title=TOP HOT 100 SINGLES -1969 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/60s/1969/Billboard%201969-12-27.pdf |magazine=Billboard|pages=16}}</ref>
==Overview== {{Original research section|date=May 2016}} The song is one of Sly Stone's pleas for peace and equality between differing races and social groups, a major theme and focus for the band. The Family Stone featured white members Greg Errico and Jerry Martini in its lineup, as well as female members Rose Stone and Cynthia Robinson; making it an early major integrated band in rock history. Sly and the Family Stone's message was about peace and equality through music, and this song reflects the same.
Unlike the band's more typically funky and psychedelic records, "Everyday People" is a mid-tempo number with a more mainstream pop feel. Sly, singing the main verses for the song, explains that he is "no better / and neither are you / we are the same / whatever we do."
Sly's sister Rose Stone and Cynthia Robinson sing bridging sections using the cadence of the "na-na na-na boo-boo" children's taunt, also known as the children's nursery rhyme Five Little Monkeys Swinging From a Tree. The chant mocks the futility of people hating each other for being tall, short, rich, poor, fat, skinny, white, black, or anything else. The bridges of the song contain the line "different strokes for different folks", which became a popular catchphrase in 1969 (and inspired the name of the later television series, ''Diff'rent Strokes''). Rose's singing ends each part of the bridge with the words: "And so on, and so on, and scooby dooby dooby".{{efn|The children's animated TV series ''Scooby-Doo'' (often featuring the phrase "scooby dooby doo") debuted on CBS in September 1969, seven months after “Everyday People” hit #1.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Breiham|first=Tom|date=2018-11-19|title=The Number Ones: Sly & The Family Stone's "Everyday People"|url=https://www.stereogum.com/2023240/the-number-ones-sly-the-family-stones-everyday-people/columns/the-number-ones/|access-date=2021-09-05|website=Stereogum|language=en}}</ref>}}
During the chorus, all of the singing members of the band (Sly, Rosie, Larry Graham, and Sly's brother Freddie Stone) proclaim that "I am everyday people," meaning that each of them (and each listener as well) should consider himself or herself as parts of one whole, not of smaller, specialized factions.
Bassist Larry Graham contends that the track featured the first instance of the "slap bass technique", which would become a staple of funk and other genres. The technique involves striking a string with the thumb of the right hand (or left hand, for a left-handed player) so that the string collides with the frets, producing a metallic "clunk" at the beginning of the note. Later slap bass songs – for example, Graham's performance on "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)" – expanded on the technique, incorporating a complementary "pull" or "pop" component.
The third verse of Sly and the Family Stone's 1969 "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)", a No. 1 hit by February 1970, references the titles of "Everyday People" and several of the band's other successful songs.
"Everyday People" was included on the band's album ''Stand!'' (1969), which sold over three million copies.
== Cover versions == Joan Jett covered the song for her 1983 album ''Album''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grein |first=Paul |date=2025-06-11 |title=Forever No. 1: Sly & the Family Stone's 'Everyday People' |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/sly-and-the-family-stone-everyday-people-analysis-1235996306/ |access-date=2025-08-31 |website=Billboard |language=en-US}}</ref> Her version of the song peaked at #37 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #43 on the US Dance Club Songs charts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Joan Jett & the Blackhearts {{!}} Biography, Music & News |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/joan-jett-the-blackhearts/ |access-date=2025-08-31 |website=Billboard |language=en-US}}</ref>
Maroon 5 also recorded a cover of the song for a Sly and the Family Stone tribute album.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/beck-moby-toast-sly-stone-102354/ |title=Beck, Moby Toast Sly Stone |last=Devenish |first=Colin |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=February 25, 2004 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250605104305/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/beck-moby-toast-sly-stone-102354/ |archive-date=June 5, 2025}}</ref> Cher and Future covered the song for a 2017 Gap advertisement.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/future-cher-gap-ad-everyday-people-cover-video-7964783/ |title=Watch Future & Cher's Auto-Tuned Cover of 'Everyday People' in New Gap Ad |last=Penrose |first=Nerisha |magazine=Billboard |date=September 13, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519163736/https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/future-cher-gap-ad-everyday-people-cover-video-7964783/ |archive-date=May 19, 2022}}</ref> The latter's duet later went viral on TikTok in 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-28 |title=Cher & Future's Super-Awkward 2017 Gap Commercial Is Going Viral Via TikTok Reenactments |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2309730/cher-futures-super-awkward-2017-gap-commercial-is-going-viral-via-tiktok-reenactments/news/ |access-date=2025-06-08 |website=Stereogum|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pilley |first=Max |date=2025-06-01 |title=Cher and Future's cringeworthy 2017 Gap advert is going viral on TikTok |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/cher-and-futures-cringeworthy-2017-gap-advert-is-going-viral-on-tiktok-3866459 |access-date=2025-06-08 |website=NME|language=en-GB}}</ref>
== Legacy == Hip-hop group Arrested Development used the song as the basis of their 1992 hit, "People Everyday", which reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart<ref>{{Cite web |title=Official Singles Chart Top 100 |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19921101/7501/ |access-date=2025-06-11 |website=OfficialCharts.com |publisher=Official Charts Company}}</ref> and No. 8 on the Hot 100.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Arrested Development Chart History (Hot 100) |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/arrested-development/chart-history/hsi/ |access-date=2025-06-11 |magazine=Billboard}}</ref>
''Rolling Stone'' ranked "Everyday People" as No. 145 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2008-06-22 |title=The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time : Rolling Stone |magazine=Rolling Stone |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page/2 |access-date=2025-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080622142703/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page/2 |archive-date=22 June 2008 }}</ref> and No. 109 on their updated list in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-15 |title=Sly and the Family Stone, 'Everyday People' |url=https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-all-time-30065/sly-and-the-family-stone-everyday-people-30458/ |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=Rolling Stone Australia|language=en-AU}}</ref> It was listed on ''Billboard''{{'}}s 500 Best Pop Songs.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Werthman |first=Rania Aniftos, Katie Atkinson, Katie Bain, Anna Chan, Ed Christman, Hannah Dailey, Stephen Daw, Kyle Denis, Frank DiGiacomo, Thom Duffy, Chris Eggertsen, Ingrid Fajardo, Griselda Flores, Josh Glicksman, Quincy Green, Paul Grein, Lyndsey Havens, Rylee Johnston, Becky Kaminsky, Gil Kaufman, Carl Lamarre, Elias Leight, Jason Lipshutz, Joe Lynch, Meghan Mahar, Elizabeth Dilts Marshall, Rebecca Milzoff, Taylor Mims, Gail Mitchell, Melinda Newman, Jessica Nicholson, Danielle Pascual, Glenn Peoples, Isabela Raygoza, Eric Renner Brown, Kristin Robinson, Dan Rys, Marc Schneider, Andrew Unterberger, Christine |date=2023-10-19 |title=The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List |url=https://www.billboard.com/lists/best-pop-songs-all-time-hits/annie-lennox-walking-on-broken-glass/ |access-date=2025-02-13 |magazine=Billboard|language=en-US}}</ref>
==Personnel== * Sly Stone: vocals * Rose Stone: vocals, piano * Freddie Stone: vocals, guitar * Larry Graham: vocals, bass guitar * Greg Errico: drums, background vocals * Jerry Martini: saxophone, background vocals * Cynthia Robinson: trumpet, vocal ad-libs * Engineered by Don Puluse * Written and produced by Sly Stone
==Charts== The song was ranked No. 5 on ''Billboard'' magazine's Top Hot 100 songs of 1969.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Top Records of 1969 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/60s/1969/Billboard%201969-12-27.pdf |magazine=Billboard |location=Cincinnati, Ohio |publisher=Billboard Publications, Inc. |date=December 27, 1969 |access-date=November 26, 2019 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" |- ! Chart (1968–1969) ! Peak<br/>position |- !scope="row"|Canada ''RPM'' Top Singles<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.5912&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.5912.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.5912|title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=1969-02-17 |access-date=2018-12-15}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|2 |- !scope="row"|New Zealand (''Listener'')<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search+listener&qartistid=733#n_view_location|title=Flavour of New Zealand - search listener|website=Flavourofnz.co.nz|access-date=June 9, 2025}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|10 |- !scope="row"| UK Singles (Official Charts Company)<ref>{{cite web|title=SLY & THE FAMILY STONE|website=Official Charts |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/2826/sly-and-the-family-stone/}}</ref> |{{center|36}} |- {{single chart|Billboardhot100|1|artist=Sly the Family Stone|rowheader=true}} |- {{single chart|Billboardrandbhiphop|1|artist=Sly the Family Stone|rowheader=true}} |}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |+ 2025 chart performance for "Everyday People" ! scope="col"| Chart (2025) ! scope="col"| Peak<br />position |- ! scope="row"| Japan Hot Overseas (''Billboard Japan'')<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard-japan.com/charts/detail?a=d_and_a_overseas&year=2025&month=06&day=23|title=Billboard Japan Hot Overseas – Week of June 18, 2025|website=Billboard Japan|language=ja|access-date=June 18, 2025}}</ref> | 15 |}
==Certifications== {{Certification Table Top}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|artist=Sly & The Family Stone|title=Everyday People|award=Gold|source=radioscope|relyear=1968|certyear=2023|access-date=February 16, 2025}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Sly & The Family Stone|title=Everyday People|award=Silver|relyear=2006|certyear=2021|id=17397-5201-1|access-date=July 30, 2021}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=Sly & The Family Stone|title=Everyday People|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=1968|certyear=2025|access-date=February 14, 2025}} {{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|nosales=true|noshipments=true}}
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{YouTube|3JvkaUvB-ec|"Everyday People" audio}}
{{Sly & the Family Stone}} {{Joan Jett}} {{Aretha Franklin}}
{{authority control}}
Category:1968 songs Category:1968 singles Category:1969 singles Category:1983 singles Category:Sly and the Family Stone songs Category:Joan Jett songs Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Category:Cashbox number-one singles Category:Song recordings produced by Sly Stone Category:Songs written by Sly Stone Category:Songs about racism and xenophobia Category:Epic Records singles Category:Direction Records singles